Florida police release video of 'gang rape' that took place on beach as spring breakers stood by

The alleged attack took place last month on Florida’s Panama City Beach

By Kiran Moodley

Florida police release video of 'gang rape' that took place on beach as spring breakers stood by

BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Police in Florida have released video of the alleged sexual assault of a woman on a crowded beach during spring break, showing what a police chief said was a culture where people "are more concerned about spilling their beer than somebody being raped".

Police in Florida have released video of the alleged sexual assault of a woman on a crowded beach during spring break, showing what a police chief said was a culture where people "are more concerned about spilling their beer than somebody being raped".

Officers have detained two students from Alabama over the alleged attack, which police said took place last month on Florida’s Panama City Beach, during spring break celebrations. Another suspect is wanted. The 19-year-old who was allegedly assaulted may have been drugged at the time; she told police she did not remember the incident.

Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen released video to show the size of the crowd surrounding the girl . It shows a seemingly typical spring break scene, with women in bikinis and others dancing on the beach and drinking alcohol. It shows a group of at least three girls standing and talking right next to the spot where the girl is seemingly being assaulted.

Two students from Troy University, Alabama have been arrested. Student Ryan Calhoun, 23, and Delonte’ Martistee, 22, were charged with sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, according to a statement from the sheriff's office.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Ruth Corley said the video was released "to show the crowd that was surrounding the incident and to show people, not only was it a horrible event, but it was witnessed by so many people who did absolutely nothing to stop or call police."

McKeithen said that the video released was not the only video they had recovered in relation to the incident: "There’s a number of videos we’ve recovered with things similar to this. I can only imagine how many we haven’t recovered.

McKeithen continued to utter his dismay that no one had stepped in during the alleged assault: "Within ten feet of where this happened there’s hundreds, hundreds of people standing there, watching, looking, seeing, hearing what’s going, and yet our culture and our society and our young people have got to the point where obviously this is acceptable.

"This is happening in broad daylight with hundreds of people seeing and hearing what is happening and they are more concerned about spilling their beer than somebody being raped."